Tamper-proof closure



July 4, 1967 R. BICHON TAMPER-PROOF CLOSURE Filed Nov. 15. 1965 3,329,294 TAMPER-PROOF CLOSURE Ren Bichon, 4 Ave. Courteline, Paris, France Filed Nov. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 507,820

Claims priority, application France, Nov. 18, 1964,

995,351, Patent 1,423,041; Apr. 14, 1965, 13,216,

Patent 87,764

3 Claims. (Cl. 215-20) The present invention relates to tamper-proof stoppers.

The term tamper-proof closure is customarily understood to mean a stopper which enables the receptacle in which it is used to be emptied normally in any position, and which prevents the receptacle being refilled with any other liquid. This applies in particular to bottles intended to contain liquids of verified quality, such as alcohols and spirts, for example, aniseed-based aperitifs.

Numerous devices have already been proposed for this purpose, and these earlier devices generally have the following features in common: the stopper takes the form of a hollow body permanently fitted to the neck of the bottle, with a valve which enables the liquid to pass only in the direction of emptying the bottle, a system of battles accommodated in this hollow body preventing access to the valve, so that it cannot be held open by means of any instrument in order to fill the bottle from outside. In numerous cases, there is a fixed partition extending along the vertical axis of the hollow body in order to allow air to enter while the bottle is being emptied. The flap of the valve frequently takes the form of a ball resting on its seat under its own weight.

These devices quite often project above the neck of the bottle, thus constituting a hindrance to placing a cap on the bottle and in some cases, the device excessively reduces the speed of emptying the bottle. Very few devices of this type enable the bottle to be emptied when inverted vertically, as is necessary when using the dispensing systems which are employed in establishments where drink is sold. Above all, however, these devices may not be wholly efficient in preventing fraudulent filling after the contents of the bottle have been consumed. In particular, the majority do not effectively prevent such filling in the upward direction by delivering the liquid by'means of a siphoning plant using communicating vessels. In fact, since this inversion normally has the effect of opening the flap for emptying purposes, no means are generally provided to oppose the passage of liquid in the upward direction via this open flap.

We have now developed a tamper proof stopper which will fit most standard bottles and which does not extend beyond the neck of the bottle so that there is no need to modify the closing and capping devices used. Furthermore the stopper allows the liquid to flow in all inclined positions of the bottle, including the vertical inverted position, and it can also act to prevent any new filling without visible damage to the closure system.

It has already been proposed to associate a floating element with the flap, with the object of returning the flap on to its seat if any attempt is made at filling in the upward direction. However, this element took the form of a ball of a diameter approaching that of the hollow United States Patent stopper portion, thus not allowing the stopper to contain a partition to enable the air and liquid to pass separately, so that it became very difficult, if not impossible, for the liquid to flow. Furthermore, the ball itself constituted an obstacle to this flow. Finally, since this ball was in contact with its recess only along a great circle at most, its displacements were not suificiently guided.

According to the present invention, in order to overcome these disadvantages in a system of this kind the flap itself floats, and moves in a cylindrical passage, being guided by ribs which extend beyond the airand liquid-separator partition.

According to the present invention we therefore provide a stopper which comprises a hollow bodywith an aperture in the base of the hollow body and a floating valve for closing the aperture, the body having an axial partition extending inwardly from the mouth of the stopper and transverse battles to prevent access to the valve, the valve being freely slidable along the axis of the stopper and guided by flanges extending between the body of the stopper and the floating valve.

The effect of the practically uninterrupted partitioning of the free volume in our stopper is to separate the stream of liquid from the stream of air while the liquid is flowing. Experience has shown that in many such stoppers whose hollow volume is partially obstructed by elements which prevent fraudulent filling, the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic phenomena set up by these elecments result in the fi-ow of liquid being opposed, more particularly in the vertical inverted position of the bottle.

There is no clear explanation for these phenomena and their consequences, but on the contrary it is indisputable that the formation of two oppositely directed streams as a result of the partitioning mentioned above has the effect of eliminating this disadvantage.

In one variant of the stopper, the partition is formed by guide flanges or ribs which are fixed not to the valve but with the body of the stopper over the height of displacement of the valve. It is clear, however, that the valve will be just as effectively guided as in the case in which these ribs are fixed on it, but an additional advantage of the former variant is that the valve is lightened, thus encouraging its movement.

A criticism which might theoretically be made of this type of stopper would be that since the flap is cylindrical it remains in any position when the bottle is in the hori zontal position, so that there seems, at least in theory, to be a risk of fraudulent filling being possible in this position. This can, however, be eliminated by making the flap in the form of a hollow conical body containing a ballast ball, the base of the cone being preferably directed towards the valve aperture.

Under these conditions, when the bottle is in the horizontal position the ball is disposed on a plane inclined towards the base of the cone, that is to say towards the valve aperture and will therefore tend to roll in this direction, thus driving the valve towards the aperture.

An additional advantage of this variant resides in the fact that the conical shape of the valve leaves a still larger passage for the fluids than a cylindrical valve, thus encouraging liquid flow.

In another variant of the stopper, the flap takes the form of an oval-section cylinder, thus favourably affecting both its balance and guiding, and also leaving free a Wider passage for the fluid to flow.

An oval aperture may also be provided for the flap, which aperture may then serve as a guide having two opposite ribs fixed to the hollow body.

The guide for the floating flap can form a lower portion capable of being separated from the upper portion of the stopper this lower portion being made of a more rigid material than the upper portion.

The floating flap may, if desired, be made up of a base intended to block the valve aperture, fixed to a hollow member containing a piece of ballast isolated from the liquid, this piece of ballast preferably being of non-mag netic material in order to be incapable of being affected from outside the stopper. For example it may take the form of a lead ball. Finally, the lateral surface of the stopper may be linked to the plane of the aperture by an inclined frustoconical or rounded surface against which the base of the float comes to bear along a line of contact, thus preventing the possibility of fraud by keeping the stopper partly open by means of a granular or pulver- 3 ulent material inserted between the plane of the aperture and the plane of the base of the float.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an axial section through one form of tamper proof stopper;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse section along line 11-11 in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a section similar to FIGURE 2 of a variant in which the aperture for the flap is oval.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a tamper proof stopper, held in place in the neck 1 of a bottle by means of a fixing cap C. The stopper takes the form of a hollow body of cylindrical shape which comprises two portions 2 and 3. The portion 3 fits into the portion 2 by a circular rib and circular groove system designated by the general reference numeral 4. The upper portion 2 is of slightly frustoconical shape flared towards the top, and is moulded of a plastics material of a relatively flexible nature, so as to fit exactly into neck 1 of the bottle. It has a longitudinal partition 5 intended to encourage the liquid to flow by separating from this flow the stream of air entering the bottle to take the place of the liquid. Partition 5 and the internal face of the body 2 carry transverse partitions in the form of a ring 6a and superposed discs 6 and 6b, which act as baifles and prevent access to the lower portion 3 from the mouth of the neck. It should be noted that the top of portion 2 is completely flat, and rests on the edge of the neck 1 projecting above the level of the same so that the stopper and its cap may be placed in position on conventional closing machines.

The lower portion 3 of the stopper is cylindrical, slightly smaller in diameter than the neck I, and made of a plastic material which is appreciably more rigid than the portion 2. The base of this portion 3 comprises an orifice 7 which is intended to allow liquid and air to pass, and is capable of being blocked by a flap 8.

Flap 8 is fixed to a hollow member, which is here illustrated in cylindrical form and is designated by the general reference .9, as will be seen in FIGURES 1 and 2. This member 9 carries vertical flanges 10, which are preferably distributed in regular fashion, and exhibit the property of lying flush over their whole length with the internal wall of the cylinder 3. It follows from this that the unit consisting of the flap 8, the hollow member 9 and the flanges 10 can slide in the cylindrical tube 3 between the base of the latter and the base of the upper portion 2 of the stopper and thus constitutes a float valve. It is for this reason that the portion 3 is moulded in rigid material and does not meet the neck, so as to constitute an indeformable guide for this movable sliding unit.

The flap furthermore carries a blade 11 in extension of a pair of oppositely disposed flanges 10 and the partition 5, so that the stopper is divided over practically its whole height by an axial partition 5-10-11, except for the sliding play of flap 8. In addition, the flanges 10 can slide in slots 12 formed at the ends of a diameter in the tubular wall of cylinder 3, said cylinder having an orifice 7 (FIGURE 2), so as to prevent flap 8 from rotating and to keep the elements constituting the axial partition in alignment.

In the variant illustrated in FIGURE 3, the slots 12 may be replaced by an elliptical tubular body defining a passage 7 whereof the apices of the major axis serve to guide two large flanges 10' for the same purpose as described above.

The device operates as follows:

In the normal emptying position, the bottle being inclined or completely inverted vertically, flap 8 slides in the tubular guide 3 until it encounters the base of the body 2, thus exposing the orifice 7. The flow of liquid in the bottle takes place normally on one side of the partition 51011, while air enters on the other side of the partition. Minimum retardation is imparted to the flow.

If an attempt is made to refill the bottle, taking advanta-ge of the fact that the orifice 7 is exposed in the inverted position, the liquid must necessarily be introduced into the bottle in the upward direction; now under these conditions the member 9 acts as a float for the flap 8 so that the latter blocks the orifice 7 and prevents this refilling from taking place.

The hollow member 9 may accommodate a weight acting as ballast, that is to say further encouraging this sliding action and making blockage more effective When the flap 8 is resting on its seat, nevertheless without preventing flap 8 from performing its function as a float. This weight will therefore have to be calculated as a function of the nature of the liquid in the bottle, so that the total weight of flap 8 and the weight of the ballast are less than the weight of the volume of liquid displaced by this unit. It will furthermore be preferable for the ballast to be non-magnetic, in order to prevent the possibility of using a powerful permanent magnet to displace the flap from outside the bottle. In practice, a lead ball will be suitable.

An additional advantage of such a ballast weight freely contained in the member 9, out of contact with the liquid, is that its inertia enables the flap to be released should a sugared liquid acquire an adhesive nature upon drying out.

It will furthermore be noted that making the body of the stopper in two portions, besides ease of moulding, enables the stopper to be dismantled, either voluntarily or under the action of an abnormal pull exerted on one of the portions, immediately revealing any attempt at fraud.

The shape and nature of the elements illustrated may naturally vary within the scope of the invention; for example, a pulverulent and preferably non-magnetic material may be used in place of a lead ball to ballast the float 9.

I claim:

1. A tamper-proof stopper for insertion into the neck of a bottle, said stopper comprising a hollow cylindrical body, one end of said body constituting a pouring opening and the other mounting a separate tubular body having an inwardly extending annular end wall at the bottom; a float valve in said body axially movable therein between a position closing said aperture and a position opening the same; a diametrically disposed partition wall secured within said cylindrical body axially extending from said pouring opening toward said float valve; at least one transverse baffle mounted within said cylindrical body to block a direct access path to said float valve and said aperture; and guide means guiding said float valve for movement in axial alignment with said partition wall.

2. A stopper according to claim 1 wherein said tubular body is circular in cross section, and wherein said guide means comprise at least two spaced apart recesses in the peripheral rim of said tubular body, and a pair of axially elongate flanges radially extending from said float valve and slidably engaging said recesses to prevent rotation of the valve within the tubular body.

3. A stopper according to claim 1 wherein said tubular body is elliptical in cross section, and wherein said guide means comprise a pair of axially elongate flanges radially extending from said float valve in coincidence with the major axis of the tubular body thereby preventing rotation of the valve within the tubular body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,063,698 6/1913 Kovac 21520 2,108,933 2/1938 Wandell 215-22 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,381,707 11/1964 France.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

D. F. NORTON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TAMPER-PROOF STOPPER FOR INSERTION INTO THE NECK OF A BOTTLE, SAID STOPPER COMPRISING A HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL BODY, ONE END OF SAID BODY CONSTITUTING A POURING OPENING AND THE OTHER MOUNTING A SEPARATE TUBULAR BODY HAVING AN INWARDLY EXTENDING ANNULAR END WALL AT THE BOTTOM; A FLOAT VALVE IN SAID BODY AXIALLY MOVABLE THEREIN BETWEEN A POSITION CLOSING AND APERTURE AND A POSITION OPENING THE SAME; A DIAMETRICALLY DISPOSED PARTITION WALL SECURED WITHIN SAID CYLINDRICAL BODY AXIALLY EXTENDING FROM SAID POURING OPENING TOWARD SAID FLOAT VALVE; AT LEAST ONE TRANSVERSE BAFFLE MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CYLINDRICAL BODY TO BLOCK A DIRECT ACCESS PATH TO SAID FLOAT VALVE AND SAID APERTURE; AND GUIDE MEANS GUIDING SAID FLOAT VALVE FOR MOVEMENT IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID PARTITION WALL. 